“That’s tough to do, and that’s a great offensive team over there,” KU coach Megan Smith said of the shutout. “I thought they started to gain some momentum last night offensively, but Kelsey Kessler came out today and shut them out. She had a great performance today.”

After recording the first save of her career, Kessler (6-3) shook off a bases-loaded threat in the bottom of the first. The Blue Springs, Mo., native struck out four and stranded eight Red Raiders runners.

“I think she was in control of their hitters, and if there was ever a doubt, she would bear down and go at them,” Smith said. “Her demeanor in the circle was great today. She was confident, and we were confident in her. We were really happy to see that.”

Naudin kicked off the scoring with a solo shot in the top of the second. Brickey came up right behind her and did the same for the first home run of her career, and drew walks in her next two at-bats. Naudin added the final RBI of the game with a groundout in the sixth.

Senior left fielder Maggie Hull extended her hit streak to 19 games, the longest by any Big 12 hitter this season, and joined freshman catcher Alex Hugo as the only players with multi-hit games on Saturday.

Today, KU will try for its first conference road sweep since its 2007 series with Texas Tech in Lubbock.